Preliminary Studies conducted on human and animals shows that vitamin K helps slow down the progression of Osteoarthritis, a condition which is marked by the breakdown of Joint Cartilage with inflammation and disability. As of now, doctors maintain that to slow down the progression of Osteoarthritis to maintain a healthy weight and being physically fit but Vitamin K could be the next definitive step here.

To quote Sarah Booth, Ph.D., senior scientist, and director of the Tufts’ HNRCA Vitamin K Laboratory, “What’s really compelling about the osteoarthritis story is that there is no medical treatment for it, even though osteoarthritis is the most common disabling disease in the lower extremities in older adults. People are looking for dietary interventions, and vitamin K has promise.”

Sarah Booth has been involved in research on Vitamin K and Arthritis for over a decade. She and her colleagues at Boston University were actually the first scientists to find the connection between Vitamin K and Osteoarthritis. Booth with her Colleague, Kyla Shea, Ph.D., has been studying this connection for quite some time now. Vitamin K is present in multiple organs like the liver, heart, pancreas, etc and Booth along with Shea, have been focussing on its role in helping the human body decrease the progression of Osteoarthritis.

The Study

The study conducted by Booth and Shea involved two groups with an average age of 60 to 75. Booth and Shea determined the Vitamin K and D intake by the participants of the Study by asking them of their eating habits. Booth and Shea then assessed their walking speed and ability to perform chair stands, every year for 4 years. In another study conducted, researchers measured blood levels of vitamin K and D and the lower-extremity function three times over a course of 4 to 5 years. In both of these studies, people with an adequate amount of vitamin K and D were able to take the walking test faster and get up and sit down again on a chair more easily.

It is suspected by Booth and Shea that Vitamin K and D are required by the human body to ensure proper functioning of the matrix-Gla Protein (MGP), a protein which shows signs of preventing calcification. Joint Tissues need Vitamin D to manufacture MGP and Vitamin K to trigger a biochemical change which enables MGP fully Functional.

In conclusion, it is not recommended by Booth and Shea to take more than the required amount of Vitamin D and K in form if supplements. Says Booth, “You would only see a change in people who are very low in vitamin K and vitamin D. We are not promoting supplementation of these vitamins. We are targeting people who are not getting enough.”

In addition, Vitamin K can also help in decreasing the progression of Joint Damage from Arthritis.

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